Suspect in death of Jessica Ridgeway due in court Tuesday

Nov. 27, 2012

Written by

DAN ELLIOTT, Associated Press

DENVER — A teenager accused of kidnapping and killing a 10-year-old Colorado girl and attacking a runner was scheduled to return to court on Tuesday.

Austin Sigg, 17, is charged as an adult with murder, kidnapping and other crimes. He is accused of killing Jessica Ridgeway, who disappeared on the morning of Oct. 5 after leaving her home in the west Denver suburb of Westminster.

He is also charged with a May attack on a 22-year-old jogger, who escaped.

Prosecutors say he has confessed to kidnapping and killing Jessica and attacking the jogger. It’s not clear if he has made any comment on the charge of sexually assaulting Jessica.

Sigg’s lawyers could have asked a judge to send the case to juvenile court after prosecutors charged him as an adult, but state judicial system spokesman Robert McCallum said the defense hadn’t made that request as of Monday.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether the defense could still seek to transfer the case to juvenile court. McCallum said he couldn’t elaborate, and the defense and prosecuting attorneys said they couldn’t comment. All cited a judge’s gag order.

Sigg faces four counts of murder, two counts of kidnapping, and one count each of sexual assault on a child and robbery in Jessica’s abduction and slaying. He faces charges of attempted murder, attempted sexual assault and attempted second degree kidnapping in the attack on the runner. Prosecutors also charged Sigg with six counts of crime of violence.

If convicted as an adult, Sigg faces up to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years. If he is convicted as a juvenile, he faces a maximum of seven years on each conviction, which could put him in prison for decades if he is ordered to serve his sentences consecutively.

In charging documents, prosecutors said Sigg acted alone in kidnapping, robbing, and sexually assaulting Jessica. The robbery charge involved the girl’s backpack and water bottle, which were found in another suburb three days after she disappeared.

Police arrested Sigg on Oct. 23. His mother told The Associated Press she called police and her son turned himself in.

Police said that in the May attack, a 22-year-old woman reported she was jogging when she was grabbed from behind by a man who placed a rag with a chemical smell over her mouth. Police have not said whether the rag was soaked with a chemical meant to subdue the woman.